Coffee?

[Hedonologist]

I've read in a composting book of mine that tea and coffee are both suitable for the compost heap. Wouldn't the caffeine either affect the growth of the plant itself, or be absorbed into the crops? I know that coffee is organic matter but is there an effect from the caffeine?

 

[ChanellG]

The reason people use coffee grinds in the garden is for the nitrogen they provide. You don't actually have to compost them, and I just learned you can use them to create a liquid fertilizer.

Check out this link for how people use coffee in the garden: http://www.sustainableenterprises.com/Business/coffeefert.htm

 

[JaimieSkye]

I've been throwing coffee grounds in my garden for years. I never thought there would be an issue with caffeine. I need to read that link. The liquid fertilizer from coffee grounds sounds interesting. I've learned so much in the short time I've been posting on this forum. Maybe I'll be more knowledgeable about gardening once spring comes and have a nice harvest for once.

 

[ChanellG]

I've just started using coffee grinds, but my mom and others I know have been doing it forever. I like the idea of drying them and storing them in a jar for future use. Talk about reuse recycle!

 

[maddie]

I use them for all my plants especially my herbs.. I have done this for years and continue to do it because I have seen that my plants really like coffee grounds. My tomatoes grew in a can of coffee grounds and did extremely well last year.
They were cherry tomatoes and tasted so sweet and awesome.. my son hated tomatoes before that .. now loves to eat tomatoes.

 

[ChanellG]

Maddie were your cherry tomatoes indoors or on the balcony? I would like to grow some inside over the winter. Hopefully my mom will leave some coffee grinds for me tomorrow. I have heard that places like Starbucks will give them away if you ask, and there are quite a few places near me I could collect the grinds from if I put in a little effort.

 

[lovinglife]

I have used them a lot, on my blueberries and roses also.

 

[dhrynio]

I mixed my coffee grounds into my soil mix before I planted my veggies last year and they seemed to like it. I never thought about the caffeine though. I know a lot of people who use them so I am thinking that the caffeine left over in the grounds is not enough to affect them.

 

[sunflower]

I also think that the amount of caffeine left in the grounds after being used wouldn't be enough to affect the plants. I need to start saving my coffee grounds again. When they say to dry them out and then save them, would that be preferable to putting the grounds right on top of the soil? What's the difference in benefits? Maddie, did you use just coffee grounds or soil as well?

 

[homejob0526]

Coffee is something that is being used for the plants for ages. But then, I really do not use it as a compost. I just spill some amount of coffee grounds or I will make it as a liquid fertilizer and use it. Thanks to a workshop which I had attended in a gardening club, because of which I have learnt a bit lot more than how much I knew, and how much my grandmother had taught me.

 

[ACSAPA]

I'm a caffeine addict and buy mass quantities of coffee ,so I might have to dry my leftover grounds for later use, so I don't coffee my plants to death.
I consume an amount of coffee on a weekly basis that would probably kill my plants, so I have to hold some back and maybe compost it.
I don't want my plants to OD on caffeine and walk away on their own.

 

[Pat]

If you are not a coffee drinker you can go to restaurants like IHOP or Ruby Tuesday and ask for the coffee grinds. I worked at Ruby Tuesday and saved grinds for my plants all the time.

I usually just dry the grinds and tea leafs and put them on the plants. I have never thought of growing tomatoes in a jar coffee grinds. I may have to try that, it seems like something fun to do.

 

[Rocky]

Starbucks is another place to approach if you need grounds. When I worked there we would bag the grounds and put them in a basket for people to take.
I haven't tried it but I have heard good things!

 

[maddie]

Maddie were your cherry tomatoes indoors or on the balcony? I would like to grow some inside over the winter. Hopefully my mom will leave some coffee grinds for me tomorrow. I have heard that places like Starbucks will give them away if you ask, and there are quite a few places near me I could collect the grinds from if I put in a little effort.

Chanell, My tomatoes are in the balcony.. somehow even with adequate lighting the plants indoors seem to attract the white mealy bugs. They thrive in direct sunlight and I have then in a place where they get about six hours of direct sunlight and indirect light for the next three to four hours..
I forgot to mention that I also had powdered egg shells in my container. This was meant for other plants but somehow the containers got mixed up and I planted the cherry tomato in that container.. since then all my tomatoes get the same treatment.

 

[ChanellG]

Here's an article that addresses the question of cofffee in the garden you may all find interesting:
http://www.green-talk.com/2007/10/10/coffee-grounds-garden-friend-or-foe/

I have used them a lot, on my blueberries and roses also.

I have been using coffee grinds as well as diluted coffee tonic on my blueberries (and other plants) for about a year now and this year I have several clusters of flowers on it whereas last year I only 5 berries total!

I have also been steeping banana peel in water (2 weeks) and feeding that to the plants for a little while now, so that may also be a factor.